Four Army Public School attackers hanged in Kohat

KOHAT: Four terrorists convicted on the charge of attacking the Army Public School and College, Peshawar, were hanged at the Kohat Internment Centre here on Wednesday, sources said.
They said that the convicts, Mujeebur Rehman alias Ali alias Najeebullah, son of Gulab Jan, and Sabeel alias Yahya, son of Attaullah, both hailing from Khyber Agency, along with Hazrat Ali, son of Awal Baz, belonging to Darra Adamkhel, and Maulvi Abdul Salam, son of Shamsi, were hanged early in the morning.
The convicts had been sentenced to death by the military courts that were set up in the aftermath of the December 16, 2014 attack on the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar.
Strict security arrangements had been made in and around the Kohat Internment Centre, which is run by the army, to avoid any untoward incident. Additional army troops were also deployed in the Kohat Cantonment and on the Indus Highway.
Information about the hangings was not provided to the media. Reporters collected the information from their own sources.The sources said that the body of Hazrat Ali was the first to be handed over to his family for burial.
Our correspondent adds from Landikotal, Khyber Agency: Mujeebur Rehman and Sabeel were buried in the Ghundi area in Jamrud Tehsil in Khyber Agency. Their bodies were brought from Kohat, where they along with two other terrorists were hanged to death.
It may be recalled that a group of heavily-armed militants attacked the APS Peshawar on December 16 last year. Around 147 people, mostly schoolchildren and some members of staff, were killed in the tragic incident.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack, which led the government to lift the moratorium on the death penalty. Also military courts were set up to try those accused of being involved in acts of terrorism.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked President Mamnoon Hussain to reject clemency petitions of the four prisoners last month. Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif ordered the hangings a few days back.
The survivors of the assault said they were happy to hear of the executions.But fathers of the victims who gathered in Peshawar on Wednesday said the hangings should have been carried out in public squares.
“The nation wanted to see these animals hanged publicly so others would not dare follow their example,” said Abid Raza Bangash, an engineer whose 15-year-old son Rafique Raza Bangash, was killed in the school attack.
Anjum, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was struck by three bullets, one in each arm and one in his chest. “They shouldn’t have been hanged in prisons; they should have been hanged in squares,” his father Momin Khan Khattak added.
“There is no forgiveness in our hearts after what they did toour hearts after what they did to our children,” he said.Some 20 fathers gathered for an emotional meeting in Peshawar, with several in tears and many angrily echoing the call for the gunmen to have been hanged in public.
Parents of the Peshawar victims meet regularly, and Wednesday’s gathering had been scheduled before news of the hangings broke.
The fathers were seeking to present demands to the government that their children be awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, the Nishan-e-Pakistan.Other parents said the executions would deter future attacks.
“The parents of the schoolchildren have long been demanding that the terrorists be severely punished, and today we are satisfied our demands have been met,” said Ajoon Khan, who lost his only son.
“The hangings won’t bring back my son, but now other people’s sons will be kept safer,” said Tufail Ahmed Khan, who lost one son while another was wounded.